Ambigrams and Hotrods

Awhile back my brother and three friends and I created a moto club called 'Hard Luck'. Being that I'm a designer with such an interest in branding I decided to take a stab at a logo. I've always been fascinated by ambigrams so decided to take a stab at one and see what happened while trying to create a logo for our group. Below is what I've arrived at after nearly 20 different doodles, this is a very simple and small thumbnail type sketch to which I intend to add more embellishments.

This view number one

This is view number two

In the corner there is some small txt that says "The Luckless" which is kind of our unofficial slogan/tag line.

What do you think?

-Jake

EDIT: I just finished a new version of this design with more detail and some revisions, check it out:

Still have to deal with the L that looks like a P.... hmmmmm....


EDIT #2: Here is what I consider to be nearly final version of the design that I did last night. This is on tracing paper so there is some glare but I'm really diggin it!

New drawing

In an effort to continue my drawing for the reason listed in a previous post, I am working on a composition that uses some components from those previous drawing but on a larger scale and with greater detail and a larger design.

Here it is:

The drawing will have a distributor at the top with the plug wires fanning out like wings. I may change it so the  piston is on top of the gear when I translate this to a digital illustration. The illustration will be my first design for my new gearhead/hotrod inspired clothing line.

Stay tuned!

-Jake

Work and art

Since my last post, and actually prior to it, I've actually taken employment with a company called Dominion Enterprises, click here for company site, in their new R&D department as a User Interface Designer. The department is brand new headed up by my boss Greg Graf who just moved back to SLC from Virginia where the company is actually based. I work, right now, with two developers and Greg. Our first project is for the domain name Sold.com, click here for our splash page to sign up for email notification at launch, which were are building to be a competitor for sites like LivingSocial and Groupon, basically a 'daily deal' type site. The project is well underway and will hopefully launch in a few months.

Dominion Enterprises is a very large company with 2+ million in revenue last year. We were original partners in Autotrader, though we have since sold out but retain similar properties like BoatTrader, Classic Car Trader, etc. We also own Real Estate oriented sites and matching publications such as those you see on the stands in the entry ways of grocery stores like Macy's. You will notice the company name on plaques on those stands and we run/own all the brands on those racks.

I'm quite thrilled to be part of this company and this department, which has the feel of a startup but with the financial security of the large corporation that it really is. The only down side is they gave me a Mac to work on.... I know, as a designer I am a rarity but I strongly prefer Windows.

As for Lunacium news, I have been working on some side projects. One of which have been especially fun because the task is to create clip art style illustrations for use in a marketing collateral builder that is part of a web site oriented towards small boutique type shops. To complete the job, I've been working with my old Wacom tablet a lot. The age of the tablet is becoming more and more apparent the longer I work with it but I am getting better and better at using it; and as I said I'm having a lot of fun. This particular project has inspired me to branch out from just using Illustrator with the Wacom and jumping over to Photoshop as well and begin developing my own designs for use in a line of hotrod/kustom car clothing that I've been wanting to create.

The other project is one I've had for awhile and has progressed slowly as the client figures out their own business and makes the appropriate decisions. It is a line of products that are patriotic themed like shirts, hats, bumper stickers, etc. I recently completed the shirts and hoodies portions and have just received word that they approved my design for the bumper stickers as well. Hats are next, something I hope to be done with in the next week.

I will be posting some samples of my work from both projects soon but getting them done in the next few weeks is more important. Part of the reason for needing to get them done is two fold. One is I have a potentially large project, branding and a website, on the horizon. Second is that my wife, son, and I are going to be moving in a month. Upgrading to a larger place, from a condo to a full house actually. We are pretty excited but it is, as always, a stressful situation.

-Jake

Drawing

So I have been doing some drawing... you know, the old way with a pencil and paper! I've wanted to get back t doing more of it for the creative freedom that illustrations offer and to spur a more open creative outlet where I can whatever I want. I've also wanted to start developing my own line of hotrod/car culture inspired clothing. Here is one design that I created yesterday evening.

I have another one that I've got in the works, but it isn't done yet. However I will put it up anyway!

This image will change by flipping the view of the distributor at the top to a top view (looking down on it) and the plug wires hanging down more in the shape of angel wings on both sides. This is also quite small and almost functions as more of a thumbnail test.

These aren't designs that I will use necessarily, they are more about getting the creativity flowing.

-Jake

The Holidays

Not much has gotten done with the holidays in full swing. About all I've gotten done is some work on a site design for a photography company, work that I don't like and am planning to scrap though. I did get a site mockup done in conjunction with a job I interviewed for. Nothing I plan to post here thought.

Today is my birthday, 29th, and as a present my wife took my son to the babysitter's house on her way to work so I could have the day off! So, what do I plan to do with the time? Um.... prolly work. So I hope to have a new site mockup for the photography company by the end of the day.

-Jake

Fast Five

So I haven't done any design stuff since Saturday... really. But I did happen on this trailer for 'Fast Five', the fifth installment of the 'Fast And Furious' franchise. And I have to say, this is probably gonna be a crappy movie... but I still wanna see it!



The cars get me every time! I will admit to having watched the last one more than once!

Say what you will about me but I love cars and I love a good chase scene. In fact I will admit to digging through my dvd collection, pulling out 'Bad Boys II', putting the disk in my Xbox, and promptly skipping to the chase between the muscle cars, the Ferrari, and the big rig ("They throwin' cars! How am I not gonna see that!").... then turning off the movie and putting it away. I have done the same thing with 'Ronin' for the same reason despite the fact that the cars used in the chase are lame. 'Gone In Sixty Seconds' and the Steven McQueen classic 'Bullit' are also fav's.

-Jake

Creekside Interiors - Site Mockup #1 (with business card example)

Ok so as promised here is my initial site mockup for Creekside Interiors a interior design firm out of Preston, Idaho.

The site design is a continuation of the business card design and logo design which I did some months back.

Here is the business card design:

Creekside Interiors is about classic design ideas and styles that are made modern. To emphasis this the logo was designed around the classic and beautiful shape of the Greek Amphora, a silhouette recognized world-wide. Added to this shape was a traditional river bank scene with the tall blades of grass and Cattails, a scene carefully chosen to bring this traditional and beautiful shape of the Amphora into people's homes. The grass/Cattail scene was also chosen because the owner was concerned that the idea of a "creek side" might incorrectly convey a "western" or overly "country side" design aesthetic which the owner wanted to avoid like the plague.

Here is the logo sheet:

The tag line "Experience Based Design", additionally emphasized by the partially painted wall on the card, was chosen to convey that while ideas and concepts sound great on paper the owner has actual experience with interior design knows how to guide the client to a visually stimulating solution for their interior spaces.

-Jake

PS: The domain has been chosen and purchased for this project already so as soon as I have the finished the revisions process I can jump right into creation and hosting of this site at which point I will add a link to the site. In the meantime watch for updates on this project along the way.

Zoomed through it...

*cough*dork*cough*

In spite of the lame post title, I did just crank out a website design and partial coding for a company called ZoomLm, you can find them by clicking here.

I designed the logo and the site and, as I mentioned, I also code the basic site. This project, from start to finish took just over a week including waiting for approval from the various business partners. 

Here is a screen shot of the site mockup done in Photoshop:

ZoomLm provides lead management for small business.

Other note, I'm working on a site for an interior design company called 'Creekside Interiors'. I will hopefully post a screen shot of my initial design when its ready for submission to the customer so look for that either later today or tomorrow.

-Jake

PS: I made some homemade fudge... and it is awesome to have a whole pan of fudge in your fridge for consumption at will!

Domain name Transfer: Complete

During the construction of the new site I was investigating subdomain names for the site and found that my current, at the time, domain hosting service didn't include that for free where GoDaddy.com did. So I made the switch but it took five days for the domain to officially transfer. While I was at it I also purchased the .net and .org extensions as well in an effort to control more fully my brand.

Now that the .com domain is moved over to GoDaddy, I am setting up some subdomains, one for each of my sub pages. In association with that I am going to be updating my links within the site to follow these new changes. So if a link doesn't work right now please be patient while the changes filter down.

Also, I've setup Google Analytics for the site. Since I'm not selling anything on the site nor am I really pushing the site for search engines, I will be using Google Analytics mostly for traffic information and also to start getting familiar with the service for future projects.

-Jake

PS: I ate a bunch of Oreo's last night.... mmmmmmmm.

The site is 'Hotrod Done'!

What is 'Hotrod Done' you ask? Hotrods are never done, they are just done for now. Hotrods are a continuous project that a true hotrodder never finishes simply because the spirit of hotrodding is about creativity, improvement, personalization.

So the site is 'Hotrod Done' with only a few minor styling changes that I'd like to make in the near future and also I'd like to include a contact form but for now it will be just fine!

With the finishing of the site it is time to start applying for positions a process that kinda sucks.... but the possibility of joining some companies is quite thrilling at the same time. Also with the finishing of the site, I will be able to shift gears over  to some side projects that need completion... or starting in some cases!

-Jake

Gallery Done... for now

The 'Portfolio' gallery is done for now and ready to introduce my work to the world. (That was dumb).

Current projects will be posted on the blog before making it into the portfolio... if they ever do.

-Jake

Txt message to post test.

inaugural post

With the implementation of my new site, Lunacium.com, it is only appropriate that I also host a blog. As I have now finished customizing the template so that it mirrors the look of the mother site, I am ready to begin my blogging life..... but I really don't have anything to say at this point so this post will really function as a 'test' and a 'Welcome' (though nobody is listening yet).

-Jake